A DISASTER CALLED ECTOPIC PREGNANCY

Here comes in a young pretty woman into the consulting room to see a doctor. She looked apparently well; generality of eyes around her.

Setting my eyes on her, you could be tempted to tell her to wait while you attend to other emergencies. But unknown to others, she is a keg of gunpowder. She is not only an emergency but a DISASTER.

Can i help you madam.. ?

She had only 3 complains

1) I can’t find my period

2) I have this lower abdominal pain

3) I feel tired.

A man who had seen the god of thunder permeates the Earth, would not take for granted the first 2 complains lightly. All nerves were on alert. We immediately requested for Pregnancy test which came out POSITIVE. The next was to immediately do a bedside ultrasound scan. Lo and behold, there was a growing baby.

You may wonder, every woman gets pregnant, but what makes her an exception. Maybe she was a daughter of a politician or she is also a colleague. Unfortunately, she was neither of all these.

Her ultrasound revealed a RUPTURED ECTOPIC. Here we come with our medical grammar. In simple terms, she is pregnant but any location of a pregnancy outside of the womb { Endometrium } terms Ectopic. Many a time patients could also present with bleeding. An ectopic could either be Ruptured ( as the name implies ) or Unruptured as this 2 require different modes of management.

A woman with ruptured ectopic could also go into SHOCK, as a result of bleeding which could be as much as 3 litres or more internally which is the reason for the tiredness. And this is one of the causes of maternal death

So this is the lesson. Any woman of reproductive age who has missed hr period for at least 4-6 weeks with lower abdominal pain, with or without bleeding and most importantly with a POSITIVE Pregnanacy test should immediately see a Consultant Gynaecologist who would rule out possibility of an ectopic.

Every pregnant woman does not deserve to die because she is pregnant. As this condition is not just a mere emergency but a disaster if unattended.